Next Steps

We hope you have found our information useful. If you would like to find out more, then the following links may be helpful. Just click on the titles to visit the websites and they’ll open in a new tab or window:

Looking for some useful pointers to help ensure your driving is as good as it always was? The GEM Driver Assessment is a good value, stimulating and highly effective hour-long opportunity to let an experienced instructor make sure you’re as safe behind the wheel as you can be. There’s no test, and nothing to fail – just an enjoyable and worthwhile opportunity to reduce your risk on the road.

We can all feel nervous or worried when we’re driving. As we get older, moments of worry or difficulty tend to become more frequent. It could be because other drivers are wanting to overtake, it could be because of reduced ability to see at night – or a whole host of other reasons that can make an older driver more uncomfortable and – more important – less safe.

We’ve consulted doctors, ophthalmologists, psychologists and road safety experts to come up with some simple ways to help extend your safe driving career. By combining regular check-ups with regular physical activity, you really can make a difference when it comes to staying as safe as possible for as long as possible. Also, by seeking the advice of experts and the opinions of family members, you can identify possible issues at an early stage and take the appropriate action to put them right.

It’s free to renew your licence when you reach the age of 70. There’s no re-test involved, and no medical examination. It’s up to you to confirm that you still meet the standards of health and eyesight required to drive.

Rules for eyesight and driving
You must tell DVLA if you’ve got any problem with your eyesight that affects both of your eyes, or the remaining eye if you only have one eye.

About cataracts
Cataracts are cloudy patches in the lens that can make vision blurred or misty. They are a very common eye condition.
Cataracts can develop in one or both eyes, and one eye can often be more affected than the other.

Forum of Mobility Centres
Your guide to a network of 17 independent organisations covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, who offer professional, high quality information, advice and assessment to individuals who have a medical condition or are recovering from an accident or injury which may affect their ability to drive, get in or out of a motor vehicle.

Older driver policy statement
Information from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main factors that can increase crash risk with age, as well of ways to help older drivers sustain a good level of safe mobility.

Information from the Scottish Government
There’s no legal age at which you must stop driving. You can decide when to stop as long as you don’t have any medical conditions that affect your driving. Find out how changes to your health can affect your driving and how to give up your licence, if needed.

The Highway Code
Every road safety and advanced driving organisation sees the benefits in a regular look at the Highway Code. You can buy a copy at most bookshops. Alternativelly take a look at the above link and browse the pages free of charge.